Inturned welt

ABSTRACT

A circularly knit two ply closed tubular inturned welt, having starting and terminal courses of which the latter are the courses of circularly knit multiple course spiral fabric and of which the former has a course of transfer loops therein and having a split transfer course to close the welt, the split transfer course comprising a pair of segmental transfer courses - one of which is formed of half of the transfer loops of the course thereof interlooped with, and secured to, stitches of a corresponding half of one of a pair of equally spaced courses of the multiple course fabric, and the other of which is formed of the remaining half of the transfer loops of the course thereof interlooped with, and secured to, stitches of a corresponding half of the other of the spaced pair of the courses of the multiple course fabric. The method of forming the above described inturned welt on a multiple feed circular knitting machine wherein the course of transfer loops is made at one of the feeds of the machine and wherein the split transfer course is made at a pair of equally spaced feeds of the machine, the first named feed being one of the spaced pair of feeds. A multiple feed circular knitting machine having a circle of needles and a circle of transfer jacks associated therewith, the machine having means to form a course of knitting at one of its feeds on the circle of needles during which loops of yarn are placed upon the transfer hooks, and having means to transfer half the loops of yarn from the transfer jacks to the circle of needles at a second feed of the machine.

United States Patent 1 Faigenbaum s4 INTURNED WELT [75] Inventor: Roy D.Faigenbaum, Melrose Park,

Pa. I

[73] Assignee: Faigenbaum Machinery, Inc.,

Philadelphia, Pa.

' 22 Filed: Sept. 8, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 70,218

[52] U.S.Cl ..66/173 [51] Int. Cl. ..D04b 9/54 [58] Field of Search..66/173, 95, 21, 22, 23, 42, 66/198 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 3,548,614 12/1970 Boyer, Jr. et al. ..66/95 1,210,344 12/1916Miller ..66/173 2,747,390 5/1956 Reymes-Cole ..66/173 FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 929,625 6/1963 Great Britain ..66/173 Primary Examiner-Wm.Carter Reynolds Attorney-Louis Necho [57] ABSTRACT A circularly knit twoply closed tubular inturned welt, having starting and terminal coursesof which the latter are the courses of circularly knit multiple coursespiral fabric and of which the former has a course of transfer loopstherein and having a split transfer course to close the welt, the splittransfer course comprising a pair of segmental transfer courses one ofwhich is formed of half of the transfer loops of the course thereofinterlooped with, and secured to, stitches of a corresponding half ofone of a pair of equally spaced courses of the multiple course fabric,and the other of which is formed of the remaining half of the transferloops of the course thereof interlooped with, and secured to, stitchesof a corresponding half of the other of the spaced pair of the coursesof the multiple course fabric.

The method of forming the above described inturned welt on a multiplefeed circular knitting machine wherein the course of transfer loops ismade at one of the feeds of the machine and wherein the split transfercourse is made at a pair of equally spaced feeds of the machine, thefirst named feed being one of the spaced pair of feeds.

A multiple feed circular knitting machine having a circle of needles anda circle of transfer jacks associated therewith, the machine havingmeans to form a course of knitting at one of its feeds on the circle ofneedles during which loops of yarn are placed upon the transfer hooks,and having means to transfer half the loops of yarn from the transferjacks to the circle of needles at a second feed of the machine.

4 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEU JAN 16 I973 SHEET 1 [IF 3 F] g .3.PRIOR ART Fig.5.

PRIOR ART IN VE N TOR ROY D. FA IGENBA UM Brj PATENTEUJAN 16 I9753.710.596

SHEET 2 OF 3 IN VE N 70/? ROY 0. FA IGENBAUM A TTORNEY INTURNED WELT THEINVENTION The present invention relates generally to the art of knittingand more particularly to tubular inturned welt structures formed ofcircularly knit multiple course spiral fabric, such as the inturnedwelts of ladies circularly knit sheet hosiery, and to a method andmachine for making the same.

In the manufacture of inturned welts of the prior art on a circle oflatch needles and on a circle of transfer jacks associated with theneedles, as set forth in the basic Scott US. Pat. No. 1,282,958 on thesubject, the welt starting courses of suitable yarn are first made uponthe needles with bights of the yarn, of one of the courses, being laidupon the transfer jacks and thereafter a sufficient length of fabric forthe welt is knit upon the needles. Then, the bights of yarn previouslylaid upon the transfer jacks and which may also be referred to as loopsof yarn, are transferred from the transfer jacks to the needlesafterwhich knitting continues upon the needles thereby to close and toform the inturned welt. The transfer of the loops from the transferjacks to the needles is done at the single feed of the machine and thetransferred loops appear in a single course of the fabric which is knownas the transfer course.

The above set forth mode of operation may be performed upon single feed,and upon multiple feed, circular hosiery knitting machines to providethe inturned welts for hose. When single feed machines are used to knitthe hose, as in the said Scott Patent, the fabric courses made thereonare of single course spiral formation and accordingly the ends of thetransfer course are not spaced by any other courses. However, whenmultiple feed machines are used to knit the hose, the fabric coursesmade thereon are of multiple course spiral formation and, with thetransfer of the loops still made at a single one of the machine feeds,the ends of the transfer course are spaced by a number of courses equalto the number of the multiple feeds less one. Thus, in such inturnedwelts made upon multiple feed machines, there is a walewise extendingoffset, or gap, between the start of, and the end of, the transfercourse, and the size of such offset between the ends of the transfercourse depends upon the number of feeds being used in the machine makingthe welt.

When machines having relatively few feeds are used to make inturned welthosiery, the offset at the ends of the single feed transfer course isrelatively unobjectionable, however, with the use of machines havingrelatively large numbers of feeds thereon, the number of which may be upto twelve, the resulting offset at the ends of the single feed transfercourse is of such extent as not only to be objectionable in appearancebut also to cause an undesirable strain to be placed upon, and toelongate the transfer loops and their associated body yarn stitches inthe vicinity of the end of the transfer course when the welt issubjected to the walewise extending strain which is present thereinduring the time the hosiery is being worn.

It is, accordingly, the primary object of the present invention toovercome the above set forth undesirable characteristics of the priorart transfer course of inturned welts formed of circularly knit multiplecourse spiral fabric, and to do this by the provisionof a noncontinuousor split transfer course to close the welt, and wherein the transferloops of the separate segments of the split transfer course aretransferred to, and are secured, in spaced courses of the multiplecourse fabric.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide means and amethod for making an inturned welt upon the needles and the transferjacks of a multiple feed circular knitting machine wherein the placingof the transfer loops upon the transfer jacks takes place at one feed ofthe machine and wherein the transferring of the transfer loops from thetransfer jacks to the needles takes place at a plurality of the feeds ofthe machine.

With the above and other objects in view which will become apparent fromthe following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of theinvention shown in the accompanying drawings, the present inventionresides in the improved welt structure which is particularly useful in,but is not limited to, ladies sheer hosiery, and in the machine andmethod for making the same, as illustrated and as hereinafterparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a circularly knitladies hose, the fabric of which is of multiple course spiral formationand which is provided with an inturned welt having the split transfercourse of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the upper part of the hose shown inFIG. 1 with the fabric of its inturned welt and of an adjoining portionof its leg lying in a single flat plane, the hose having been severedalong an off-center walewise extending line, and showing thenon-continuous, two part, split transfer course or closure lines of theinturned welt of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 2 showing the singlecontinuous transfer course or closure line of an inturned welt of theprior art.

FIG. 4 is a view of a portion of FIG. 2 at one of the two junctures ofthe two segments of the split transfer course of the welt of the presentinvention and schematically showing the relative sizes of the weltclosing loops thereat.

FIG. 5 is a view of a portion of FIG. 3 at the juncture of the start andat the end of the single continuous transfer course of the welt of theprior art and schematically showing the relative sizes of the weltclosing loops thereat.

FIG. 6 is a schematic stitch diagram of the hose fabric as it appears ina walewise extending section thereof taken at the start of one of itssplit transfer courses.

FIG. 7 is a similar view to FIG. 6 as taken at the end of the splittransfer course.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a circle of needles in an eightfeed circular knitting machine upon which the present invention may becarried out.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of part of the needle cylinder and of thetransfer dial of the multiple feed circular knitting machine being usedand showing the relationship of the needles and transfer jacks thereinduring the start of the welt formation.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing the relationship of theneedles and transfer jacks during the closing of the welt formation.

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view of the transfer jack operating cams inthe dial cap by means of which the transfer jacks are actuated.

FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view of the full circle of transfer jacksshowing the relative disposition of their high and their low operatingbutts.

The present invention has been shown, by way of example only, as beingpreformed upon an eight feed circular knitting machine of the type usedfor the knitting of ladies hosiery, however, it will be understood thatthe invention may also be carried out upon machines of this type whichhave a greater or a lesser number of multiple feeds, and may also becarried out upon other types of multiple feed circular knittingmachines. Accordingly, the split transfer course of the presentinvention is shown as being incorporated, by way of example only, in aninturned welt made of eight course spiral fabric, and it will beunderstood that the present invention may also be incorporated ininturned welts made of other multiple course spiral fabrics.

There is shown in FIG. 1 a circularly knit ladies hose having a two plytubular inturned welt 11 at the top thereof, the welt 11 having thereinthe split transfer closing course of the present invention, the pair ofnoncontinuous arc-shaped segments of which are indicated at 12 and at13, the fabric of the welt and of at least the adjoining portion of theleg being of eight course spiral formation. The leg and foot of the hosemay be made in any desired manner and may be of any desired formation.

As appears in FIG. 2, each of the split segments 12 and 13 of the splittransfer course extends half way around the welt on opposite sidesthereof along separate inclined lines which represent correspondingportions of spaced parallel courses, in this case, a first and a fifthcourse of the eight course spiral fabric. It follows then that thecourses containing the transfer loops of the segments 12 and 13 arespaced by three courses of fabric and, accordingly, at the offsetbetween ends 1211 and 13b (and 13a and 12b) of the segments, there is agap of only three courses. In contrast therewith, in the prior art, welt14, FIG. 3, made of similar eight course spiral fabric, at the offsetbetween ends 15a and 15b transfer course 15, there is a gap of sevencourses.

A comparison of the relative sizes of the transfer loops 15c and 15d atthe ends of the transfer course 15 of the prior art. FIG. 5, and of thetransfer loops 12c and 130 at the ends of the split transfer courses l2and 13 of the present invention, FIG. 4, shows that while the transferloops 15c and 12c, at the start of the transfer course 15 and of thesegment 12 respectively, are relatively small and are of substantiallythe same size, the transfer loops 15d and 13c, at the end of thetransfer course 15 and of the segment 13 respectively, are relativelylarge and differ greatly in size. This difference in size is due to thegap of seven courses l5e of body fabric between the ends of the transfercourse 15 containing the transfer loops 15c and 15d, and the gap of onlythree courses 12d of body fabric between the ends of the split transfercourses l2 and 13, the body fabric in both FIGS. 4 and 5 being ofsimilar eight course spiral formation. Transfer loops 15d are longerthan transfer loops 15c due to the eight course spiral of the transfercourse and, similarly, the transfer loops 13c are longer than thetransfer loops 12c due to the four course spiral of the split transfercourses.

As set forth in the said Scott Patent, the first two courses made on themachine form a starting selvage for the welt wherein the yarn is takenby the odd numbered needles only in the first course with the evennumbered needles in their welt position and wherein the yarn is taken byall the needles in the second course. In the third course the yarn isknit by the odd numbered needles only, with the even numbered needlesagain in their welt position while retaining thereon the yarn loops ofthe second course and at the same time bights or loops of the yarn arelaid across the hooks of the transfer jacks which have been projectedradially outwardly above the lowered even numbered needles. The transferjacks are withdrawn after one course of loops have been laid thereon andthereafter, for the fourth and the following course of the welt,knitting takes place upon all of the needles during which the loops areretained upon the transfer jacks. After a suitable length of fabric forthe welt has been knit, the transfer jacks are projected radiallyoutwardly above the even numbered needles which then come up inside theloops on the transfer jacks and remove the loops from the latter as theyare moved radially inwardly. In so doing, the transfer loops are placedon the shanks of the even numbered needles along with the stitchesalready thereon, so that stitches of the next course of knitting aredrawn by the even numbered needles through both the transferred loopsand the stitches on their shanks, thereby to interlock the said transferloops and the said stitches together in a closing transfer course of thewelt.

While the method set forth in the said Scott Patent is carried out upona single feed machine, it may also be carried out upon multiple feedmachines. In a single feed machine, the method steps used for theformation of the first three starting courses of the welt are performedduring each of three revolutions of the machine at the single feedthereof, whereas in a multiple feed machine the same method steps toachieve the same result, are preferably performed at each of three feedsof the machine during a single revolution thereof. Thus, in the eightfeed machine presently being used, as shown schematically in FIG. 8, thefirst and second courses forming the starting selvage for the welt arepreferably made at feeds 1 and 3 thereof, while the third course, inwhich the transfer loops are laid on the transferjacks, is preferablymade at feed 5.

This takes care of the conventional welt starting courses after whichthe next several following courses of the welt fabric in the presentlyused machine are made on selected feeds and in a manner most convenientto the structure of the machine, itself. Accordingly, the fourth courseis knit upon feed 7 while the feeds 2, 4, 6 and 8 remain idle. For thenext revolution of the machine, the next four courses are knit upon allthe needles of the machine at the feeds 1, 3, 5 and 7, while the feeds2, 4, 6 and 8 again remain idle. Thereafter, knitting continues upon allof the needles upon all eight feeds until a sufficient length of fabrichas been made for the welt.

It is now time for the welt to be closed by transferring the transferloops from the transfer jacks to the needles and, while this is done ata single feed in the prior art, whether such single feed is the onlyfeed of the machine, as in the Scott Patent, or is one feed ofa multiplefeed machine, in the present instance, the transferring of the loops tothe needles is preferably done simultaneously at two feeds, namely, atfeeds 5 and l, of the eight feed machine being employed. One-half of thetransfer jacks are projected radially outwardly at feed 5 over one-halfof the even numbered needles to transfer their loops thereto, while atthe same time, the other half of the-transfer jacks are projectedradially outwardly at feed 1 over the other half of the even numberedneedles to transfer their loops thereto, thereby to provide the splittransfer course containing the segments 12 and 13 thereof with each suchsegment extending 180 around and on opposite sidesof the welt. Thus,with one of the segmental transfer courses 12, 13, being made at thefeed 5 while the other is made at the same time at feed 1, it followsthat they are in courses which are spaced by three other fabric courses.

The relative operative disposition of the needles and transfer jacks atfeeds 5 and 1 when the loops of yarn are placed upon the transfer jacks,is shown in FIG. 9; and FIG. 10 shows the relative operative dispositionof the same parts when the loops are transferred from the transfer jacksto the needles. The disposition of needles and transfer jacks at feed 5is indicated at the left-hand sides of FIGS. 9 and 10, while thedisposition of needles and transfer jacks at feed 1 is indicated at therighthand sides thereof.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, a conventional needle cylinder 16 has radiallymovable conventional sinkers 17 associated therewith at its upper end,the sinkers being adapted to co-operate with a circle of conventionallatch needles N which move vertically in slots in the needle cylinder.The needles N-1, in FIG. 9, are the odd numbered needles while theneedles N-2, in FIG. 10, are the even numbered needles. Above cylinder16 is a conventional transfer dial 18 provided with a circular series ofradially extending grooves in which a circle of conventional transferjacks 19 are adapted to slide when their operating butts 20 and 20a areactuated by the appropriate cams shown in FIG. 11. The butts 20 are thehigh butts and the butts 200 are the low butts, the high butt and thelow butt transfer jacks being specially arranged as shown in FIG. 12.The transfer jacks 19 are disposed so as to be radially aligned with theeven numbered needles N-2 and therefore are disposed between the oddnumbered needles N-1. The transfer jacks, each of which is formed ofseparate halves of flexible material, FIG. 12, are shaped so as to havethe hook shaped loop receiving ends 21, and having the halves thereofspread apart at 22,,adjacent the ends 21, to provide needle hookreceiving openings therebetween. The circle of transfer jacks 19 isarranged in a novel manner, FIG. 12, so that a series of low butt jacks(shown at L), extends for approximately 110 degrees of the circlethereof, followed by a series of high butt jacks (shown at H), forapproximately 70, followed by a series of low butt jacks similar to theseries L (shown at L-l), and followed by a series of high buttjackssimilar to the series H (shown at H-1).

In FIG. 11, the eight numbered feeds of the machine are shown inrelation to the dial operating cams used to act upon the buttsof thetransfer jacks to move the same radially of the needle cylinder. A jackprojecting cam 23 and a jack retracting cam 24 are provided in the dialcap at feed 5 and a similar set of cams 23a and 24a is provided in thedial cap at feed 1. Also provided are the spaced concentric ring shapedplate cams 25 and 26 which define a pathway therebetween, within whichthe butts 20 and 20a travel in the direction of the arrow shown. Theplate 25 is provided with a cut out cam face 25a following the cam 24.The cams 23, 24, are conventionally mounted and earns 23a and 24a aresimilarly mounted so as to be vertically movable into, and out of,operative relation to the jack butts under conventional pattern control,the movement being in a direction parallel to the axis of the needlecylinder, with the movement of the cams into operative position beingcarried out in two steps.

The set of cams 23a and 2411 at feed 1, in addition to the set of earns23 and 24 at feed 5, permit the transferring of loops from the transferjacks at both of these feeds at the same time. The disposition of thehigh and low butt transfer jacks permit both sets of operating cams 23,24, and 23a, 24a, to be placed into operative position at the same time.It will be understood that the earns 23, 24, 23a, and 240, are partiallylowered when the low butts 2012 are passing the cams, so that they arein position to first engage and move the leading high butts 20 of theseries H and H-l, and that the cams are fully lowered while they are inengagement with the high butt jacks so as to engage and move the lowbutt jacks thereafter.

Only the cam 23 is lowered at feed 5 when the third course at the startof the welt is being made at this feed, the cam 23 acting to project thefull circle of the transfer jacks 19 radially outwardly between theraised odd numbered needles N-l (as shown at the lefthand side of FIG.9), to receive the loops of yarn of the third course in their hooks 21.It will be understood that the even numbered needles N-2 are in loweredwelt position at this time. Thereafter, the transfer jacks are partiallywithdrawn by the action of cam face 25a on their butts. The position ofthe withdrawn jacks is shown at feed 1 at the right-hand side of FlG. 9.The cam 23 is left in operating position for one revolution of theneedle cylinder.

The two sets of earns 23, 24, and 23a, 24a, are lowered into operativeposition at feeds 5 and 1 when the split transfer course 12, 13, is tobe made to close the welt. The cams 23 and 23a project the transferjacks radially outwardly above the even numbered needles N-2 which arethen raised to extend through the openings 22 of the transfer jacks,FlG. l0, and thereafter the cams 24 and 24a fully withdraw the transferjacks, as a result of which the loops of yarn on the hooks 21 aretransferred to the needles N2. Onehalf of the transfer loops aretransferred to one half of the needles N-2 at feed 5 and the other halfof the transfer loops are transferred to the other half of the needlesN-2 at feed I. The first transfer jacks to be projected at feeds 5 and lare the leading high butt-jacks of the two series H and H-1 thereof.Preferably, the earns 23, 24, and 23a, 24a, are left in operatingposition for approximately one-half revolution of the needle cylinder oruntil all of the transfer jacks have been projected and withdrawn. It isnot necessary to otherwise divide the transfer jacks or the needles, foreven if some of the transfer jacks are projected twice, no harm will bedone, since their loops will have been removed therefrom when they arefirst projected, and the second projection will be an idle movement.During the transfer operation at feeds and 1, conventional knittingtakes place at all of the feeds of the machine including the feeds 5 and1 at which the knitting serves to join together the transfer loops andthe stitches on the needles N-2. Continued knitting on all the feedswill then form the fabric of the stocking leg.

Stitch arrangements of courses of the welt made according to the aboveset forth method on an eight feed circular knitting machine are shown inFIGS. 6 and 7. The first four starting courses of the welt made on thefeeds 1, 3, 5, and 7, are correspondingly indicated at la, 3a, 5a, and7a of which the courses In and 3a comprise the selvage, the course 50comprises the transfer loops, and the course 7a is the first courseformed after the formation of the transfer loop course 5a. Theindividual courses of the eight course spiral body fabric of the weltmade on the feeds 1 through 8, are correspondingly indicated at lbthrough 8b, at the lefthand side of FIGS. 6 and 7. The section of FIG. 6is taken at the start of one of the like segmental transfer courses l2,13, while the section of FIG. 7 is taken at the end thereof, thesections of FIGS. 6 and 7 being spaced by 180. It is due to this spacingof the sections of FIGS. 6 and 7 and to the spiral present in the eightcourse fabric, that the levels of similar courses shown in FIGS. 6 and 7are offset by four courses; thus, course 8b in FIG. 6 (made at feed 8),is at the level of course 4b (made at feed 4) in FIG. 7, and so on. Itwill also be noted that while the transfer loops of course 5a areinterlooped with, and are secured to, stitches of course 4b by thestitches of course 5b, in both FIGS. 6 and 7, to form one of thesegmental transfer courses 12, 13, the transfer loops of course 5a inFIG. 7 are substantially longer than the corresponding transfer loops ofcourse 5A in FIG. 6.

The transfer loops of course 5a gradually increase in size in each ofthewales extending from its wale of FIG. 6 to its wale of FIG. 7. In FIG.6, the walewise extent of the transfer loop of course 5a is such as tobe substantially coextensive with the loops of course 4b, whereas inFIG. 6 the corresponding transfer loop of course 5a is long enough toextend over the loops of courses 8b, and 1b through 4b. The transfercourse is the course in which transfer loops of course 50 and stitchesof course 4b are joined together, and it will be seen that the levelofthe start of, FIG. 6, and of the end of, FIG. 7, the segmentaltransfer course is spaced by three courses of the fabric.

The transfer loops d at the end of the prior art transfer course 15 areinitially elongated, so as to be substantially twice the length of thetransfer loops 130 at the end of the segmental transfer course 13, sothat when the welt is subjected to the walewise strain present thereinduring the time the hose is being worn, there is less give" in thetransfer loops 15d (than in the loops 13c) and, accordingly, theresultant strain in the loops 15d is transmitted to the body yarnstitches of the fabric with which the loops 15d are interlooped.Accordingly, when the strain is sufficient, the described body yarnstitches of the prior art hose will be enlarged and may be permanentlydamaged. On the other hand, since the transfer loops of the presentinvention are initially much shorter, they will give more when subjectedto strain and will thus be less likely to damage the body arn stitches.

It Wll e understood that the transfer of the loops from the transferjacks to the needles may be made at more than a pair of the feeds of themachine, and that the feeds at which the transfer is made, need not beequally spaced around the machine.

What I claim is:

l. A knitted product comprising a circularly knit tubular fabric havinga two ply closed tubular inturned welt formed integrally therewith, saidwelt having a course of transfer loops at the starting end thereof, saidwelt also having multiple course spiral fabric therein and having asplit transfer course to close said welt, said split transfer coursecomprising at least a pair of noncontinuous arc-shaped segments whichare individually disposed in separate course spirals of said multiplecourse spiral fabric, one of said segments being formed by theinterknitting of the transfer loops of a first group of said course oftransfer loops with the loops of a corresponding group of a first coursespiral of said multiple course spiral fabric while the other of saidsegments is formed by the interknitting of the transfer loops of asecond group of said course of transfer loops of a corresponding groupof a second course spiral of said multiple course spiral fabric, each ofsaid segments extending spirally partway around said tubular fabric andall of said segments together encircling said tubular fabric.

2. A knitted product as in claim 1 wherein said first and said secondcourse spirals of said multiple course spiral fabric are spaced by atleast one other course spiral of said last named fabric.

3. A knitted product as in claim 2 wherein said segments of said splittransfer course are of substantially equal length. I

4. A knitted product as in claim 2 wherein the number of course spiralsbetween said first and said second course spirals of said multiplecourse spiral fabric is equal in number to one half of the number of theindividual course spirals in said last named fabric less one.

1. A knitted product comprising a circularly knit tubular fabric havinga two ply closed tubular inturned welt formed integrally therewith, saidwelt having a course of transfer loops at the starting end thereof, saidwelt also having multiple course spiral fabric therein and having asplit transfer course to close said welt, said split transfer coursecomprising at least a pair of non-continuous arc-shaped segments whichare individually disposed in separate course spirals of said multiplecourse spiral fabric, one of said segments being formed by theinterknitting of the transfer loops of a first group of said course oftransfer loops with the loops of a corresponding group of a first coursespiral of said multiple course spiral fabric while the other of saidsegments is formed by the interknitting of the transfer loops of asecond group of said course of transfer loops of a corresponding groupof a second course spiral of said multiple course spiral fabric, each ofsaid segments extending spirally partway around said tubulAr fabric andall of said segments together encircling said tubular fabric.
 2. Aknitted product as in claim 1 wherein said first and said second coursespirals of said multiple course spiral fabric are spaced by at least oneother course spiral of said last named fabric.
 3. A knitted product asin claim 2 wherein said segments of said split transfer course are ofsubstantially equal length.
 4. A knitted product as in claim 2 whereinthe number of course spirals between said first and said second coursespirals of said multiple course spiral fabric is equal in number to onehalf of the number of the individual course spirals in said last namedfabric less one.